And what's all this about the drop-back method and nose-rigging with circle hooks?

For fully illustrated answers to these questions - and more - have a look at Offshore Trolling...

Jigging

I suspect like many other sea anglers, my earliest memory of
saltwater fishing was jigging for mackerel from a drifting boat whilst
on the annual south coast summer holiday with my parents. Tackle was
pretty basic, as was the fishing technique - a handline, a string of
mackerel feathers and a sinker, which were jerked up and down
experimentally at various depths.

Results were sometimes spectacular. Six or more glistening,
wriggling mackerel at a time - a cause of great jubilation when you
could count your age on the fingers of two hands.

Although saltwater fishing techniques haven't changed much over the
years, the tackle and our aspirations have. Mackerel feathers have been
largely replaced by the more effective and robust Hokkai lures, the
smallest of which are the ones to use when jigging for baitfish.

Jigging is the best way of plucking individual fish from the shoals that hang out above deepwater wrecks.
Perks and soft-plastic lures - muppets, shads and jellyworms - will get
the job done here. Squid and octopus are also suckers (sorry) for the
jig fishing technique, although they do demand specialised lures of
their own.

But there's a lot more to jig fishing than jerking a lure up and down until you catch a fish or your arm drops off!

Bottom fishing

Not on the drift as previously described, but from an anchored boat.

When bottom fishing,
demersal fish will again be your quarry - that is, those kinds of fish
that live and feed on the sea bed, or just above it. Flatfish, skates
and rays, cod, haddock and whiting for example.

At slack water, with no tidal flow to carry it astern, you'll be able
to drop your baited hooks vertically to the seabed - and the
paternoster rig is the one to use.

But once the tide starts to run, your paternoster rig will be lifted
up and swung clear of the bottom. Not good. Time to switch to a ledger
rig. Now with a running ledger weight ahead of the hook trace, you can
ease out your line until the weight holds bottom and your baited hook
lays on the seabed astern of it. Providing your ledger weight is heavy
enough and you let out enough line, it will stay put. This is the
downtide ledger fishing technique.

Uptide ledgering is a more sophisticated technique in which the rig
is cast uptide and away from the boat. A wire-spiked lead will hold it
in place until a fish takes, whereon the lead will be pulled free, the
whole shebang will trundle off downstream and your line will go slack. Strike!

So far we've just mentioned boat fishing techniques. But not everyone
likes boats. Some of my mates won't go near one unless it's safely
chocked-up ashore. But then some people, inexplicably, enjoy golf.

But before we abandon fishing afloat completely and head ashore, we
should think about how to find the best boat fishing marks, and the most
productive times to fish them. Many boat anglers keep the best marks to
themselves, so 'asking around' - even plying them with strong ale -
will only get you so far.

Where and When?

If you're fortunate enough to have your own saltwater fishing boat,
the ability to find the best marks for yourself is fundamental to
successful boat fishing - and there's plenty of information around to
help you do just that.

But, just before we get into Shore Fishing ...

The sea can be a treacherous mistress and makes no allowances for
beginners. All boat owners should possess an adequate level of
navigation and seamanship skills, and have aboard the appropriate tide
tables and other nautical publications.

Whilst it isn't within the scope of this website to get into this
topic in any great detail, I must stress the importance of taking it very seriously indeed.

So if you're a boat owner and haven't yet done so, please at least
get a good book on the subject - the one shown here takes some beating.

Apart from any personal considerations, you owe it to your crew.

Shore Fishing Techniques

This requires a different skill-set from those possessed by boat
anglers, although several of the techniques and many
of the lures, are common to both.

A primary requirement for successful shore fishing is the ability to cast well - that is, both accurately and far.

A So let's have a look at shorefishing methods:~

Surfcasting (or beachcasting)

Surfcasters need to be able to cast a bait a long way off a beach when
its necessary - although often it isnt. Bass in particular are often
very close in. More than once I've been fishing a hundred yards out,
only to see a sizeable bass in the shadow of my rod. Irritating...

Float Fishing

A broad fishing technique is this one, from using a balloon float far
offshore for shark, to a light freshwater float fished from a harbour
wall for hard-fighting mullet. But whatever the application, the float serves two purposes:~

Baitcasting

An American term this, we'd call it spinning but our US pals do distinguish between baitcasting and spinning. The 'bait' in this case is
a lure, more often than not a floating/diving plug, but spoons, shads
and jelly worms are popular too. Primary targets for your saltwater baitcasting outfit will be bass, mackerel and pollack.

Saltwater Fly Fishing

This is a specialised saltwater fishing technique that has become
increasingly popular in recent years. Wading out, waist-deep, on a
gently shelving beach is normally how its done, although great results
can be had from an anchored or slowly drifting dinghy.

Not though, from the deck of a sailboat - believe me, I know. If you dont want
to spend most of your time removing the hook from the rigging, spars,
guard rails and all the other bits that get in the way on a sailing
boat, my advice is to try one of the other saltwater fishing techniques.

Here in the UK your target fish will most likely be bass, but it's in
warmer waters where this fishing technique gives the greatest sporting
rewards - bonefish, pompano, tarpon etc...

So these are the primary fishing techniques that will catch you fish.

Clearly we've only scratched the surface on this page, but if you've
followed the links you'll have found a lot more detail about each of
these fishing techniques.